


Hold Me In Your Arms

by Bam4Me



Series: Dream Of Reality [2]
Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Dream Sharing, Force Ghost Qui-Gon Jinn, Gen, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Minor Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan Kenobi, More than ageplay but its still technically ageplay okay its sorta both, Non-Sexual Age Play, Obi-Wan Needs a Hug, Post-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Pre-Star Wars: A New Hope, Protective Obi-Wan, Young Anakin, Young Anakin Skywalker, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 09:25:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13499148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bam4Me/pseuds/Bam4Me
Summary: And let me be the one, who can feelLike I am a child, in love





	Hold Me In Your Arms

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so like, the summary and the title are taken from a song from Futurama that makes me fucking sob every time I hear it and inspired this entire series anyways don't judge me I'll be crying a corner now.
> 
> gatersgonewild.tumblr.com

There was something strange about this whole little world they slipped into while Obi-Wan was sleeping.

 

“Anakin, do you stay here all the time?”

 

Anakin looked over at Obi in the kitchen. He looked younger today. Maybe fifteen. He’d started out fairly young, probably eighteen, but today -the second day they had been together- he was younger. Things seemed to act strangely around here. Obi-Wan took it as a gentle reprieve from regular life for the most part.

 

This felt like a real body. He knew it wasn’t, but as far as the force was concerned, it acted like a real body and felt like one. He was rid of all the aches and pains of aging beyond his years and living through a war. When he’d gone to the fresher to see himself the first day he’d been here, he’d been floored at how young he looked. As young as he’d been only a few years after meeting Anakin and taking him as his padawan.

 

Anakin was sitting on the couch there, curled up under a blanket like he was cold… or hiding…

 

“I stay here. Vader can’t find me here.”

 

Obi-Wan poured a pot of tea for the two of them, thinking that over for a good minute while he put together a tray to take back to the living room. When he got there, Anakin was eagerly tossing aside the blanket in an invitation for Obi-Wan to wedge into the couch next to him before wrapping them both up again. It wasn’t until he had Anakin tucked up into his side that he really thought about how long it’s been since the last time they sat like this.

 

By the time Anakin was fourteen he was ‘too old’ for hugs and cuddling on the couch while they relaxed.

 

By all standards, it should have been obvious, what with young teen boys wanting their space and to look cool in public. Anakin was just too cool for his master to be kissing him on the forehead as he sent him off to work with the other pilots and do adult-type field work.

 

He hadn’t realized it until the boy was whining and pulling away from him when he tried to give him affection. He’d honestly never felt that way when he’d been young.

 

He’d had abandonment issues coming out his ears when he was Anakin’s age, and those loving hugs and kisses Qui-Gon would give before he was heading off to classes? Those had soothed him in a way that most teenagers weren’t soothed by adults at that point. He’d needed a firm hand when he was younger.

 

So he’d backed off.

 

But now here Anakin was, tucked up into his side like he belonged there -he did, he really did- and burrowing into a blanket like he couldn’t be bothered with anyone else in the world by Obi-Wan.

 

He felt warm inside. Happy? Yeah he thinks. Sometimes all these emotions gang up on him until he’s not sure if he’s tired or angry, hungry or sad. Qui-Gon said that’s a sign of emotional overload and sensitivity that’s probably been caused by, you know, living through every other Jedi except for Yoda  _ dying _ all at once, but, whatever. Qui-Gon’s suggestions always involve meditation and medication. They’re good ideas… but Obi-Wan hasn’t trusted a doctor enough to get mentally close in years, and meditation is hard to reach. Qui-Gon has spent many nights in the months since his kitchen breakdown just laying with him in his bed, stroking hair and letting the force linger over him so his student could get some semblance of peace, but it was few and far between that Obi-Wan could find that peace that he used to live in.

 

“Does Vader know you’re still here?”

 

Anakin snuffled a little, pressing in so he was piled up in Obi-Wan’s lap, a mess of wild curls and blanket covered body laying over his legs. Obi-Wan started carding his fingers through those curls, watching the way he relaxed into him with a gentle sigh. “I don’t know. He hasn’t figured out where I am, and the longer I stay the stronger the shields get.”

 

Obi-Wan paused, looking around before feeling outwards with the force. “Ani, are we in a self generating force shield?”

 

Which is a really plain way to say, a mental shield that pulled on the force itself instead of the energy of the user. Obi-Wan had tried for years to teach it to Anakin in case of an emergency or torture, but before seeing this, he’d had thought it was a failed idea.

 

“I… Vader wasn’t strong enough to feel me in his head when he first woke up, and I knew if I called to you he’d figure things out, so I waited… I couldn’t make it like how you taught me, the way you taught me was really fast. It took me almost two years to build it strong enough that I could call to you without him finding out. I think he thinks I’m dead, that I just… faded away.”

 

Obi-Wan looked down at him with pride and joy written all over his face, before leaning down so he could press his forehead to Anakin’s, utterly amazed at how good the boy was. “I hope you know I’m so proud of you. I’m so happy you’re here. And I’m here for as long as I can be. But we still need to work on strengthening you mentally. One day you won’t have to hide in here.”

 

Anakin was making little pleased noises, leaning up into his master like a kitten in sunlight, utterly affectionate and loving. Force, Obi-Wan hasn’t seen him this relaxed in years. “I don’t mind. Maybe I can just stay here till he dies. I have you with me and that’s good enough.”

 

Yeah. That’s what Obi-Wan had been afraid of.

 

***

 

As soon as he was there in the temple with Anakin, Obi-Wan suddenly felt a painful tug that sent him back into his body with a gasping breath that left him shaking all over, unsure what was going on.

 

“Oh  _ force _ .”

 

Obi-Wan gasped, unable to breathe right for some reason, air coming in shakily and barely enough, his vision spinning as he took in his surroundings from the limited view of a stiff neck that didn’t seem able to turn for some reason. He knew that Qui-Gon was standing next to his bed, a worried air about him, but he couldn’t properly turn to see him, still pulling in too little air.

 

“Obi, no, Obi you need to breathe everything is fine, you can do it, just breathe.” Obi-Wan tried not to gasp out in pain but as he tried sitting up he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t pull in air, and everything was pure pain under his skin like he’d been set on fire from the inside out.

 

“C-c… c-an’t-” Obi-Wan cut himself off with a gasp, still unable to breathe at all. He could see Qui-Gon now, leaning over him with a panicked look on his face, and a second later the force was settling over him like a blanket.

 

Things slowed down, his heart stopped pounding like it was trying to break loose, his skin felt less like he was burning alive and by the time his heart was slow and steady again -his muscles burning though- he could see Qui-Gon next to him, feel him all around like he was settled over him like a blanket. He was on his side, staring at the horrified ghost of his master laying on the bed next to him.

 

“What... was that?”

 

Qui-Gon stared at him, eyes wide and terrified, and if he had been alive Obi-Wan knew he would be trembling. He wasn’t scared for himself, Qui-Gon hadn’t feared death, not even when he’d stared it down and accepted it as Obi-Wan was begging him not to go. No, Qui-Gon was scared for him.

 

“Your soul left, Obi-Wan. Your soul left, it was  _ gone _ . I had to pull it back. I’m sorry it hurt but I wasn’t sure how to do it.”

 

Obi-Wan looked up at the ceiling for a moment, before going back to looking at his master. “Is that what happened?”

 

Qui-Gon nodded, eyebrows furrowed. “Has this happened before?”

 

Obi-Wan nodded, letting out a little sigh. His every muscle was pure exhaustion and shaking a little. “Last night. After you left to go do… ghost stuff.”

 

Qui-Gon would have gone pale if he’d had the body to do it. “What happened last night? How did you get back?”

 

Obi-Wan shrugged, instantly regretting it. Everything was pain. “I don’t know. I just woke up and I was back.”

 

“Then how do you know you left?”

 

It was quiet in the room for a minute, and Obi-Wan shakily reached out for Qui-Gon, fingers brushing against the tingling force that presented Qui-Gon’s face. He pushed with his mind, not quite as easily as it used to be when they had a bond together, but Qui-Gon could barely grasp at that strand of his mind, pulling it until he could see what Obi-Wan had seen when his soul had left.

 

“Ani.”

 

Obi-Wan nodded, collapsing back into the mattress, looking beyond exhausted. “He’s figured out Force fed shielding. I always thought I’d failed at teaching him, but... Kark, why do I feel like I’ve been run over?”

 

Qui-Gon looked honestly guilty at that. “I think… I might have given you a slight heart attack… I fixed it though.”

 

Obi-Wan turned to glare at the man a little, before falling back further into the bed with a sigh. “Well, I’m going back to sleep, if my soul leaves again, just let it be.”

 

Qui-Gon nodded with a guilty frown. He stayed there laying on the bed with him until Obi-Wan’s eyes shut once more.

 

***

 

When Obi-Wan got back into the living room, all the lights were off. The room was lit by a bright full moon through the window, but otherwise dark. Obi-Wan could just barely make out a figure curled up on the couch, tiny little hitching sobs coming from it.

 

“Ani? Dearheart, I’m back, there’s no need for tears.” He knelt down next to Ani’s little crying form -was he getting younger?- and pulled back the heavy blanket Ani had managed to wrap himself in. “Oh, padawan mine, whatever is the matter?”

 

Anakin looked up at him with big -young, very young, maybe twelve at most- eyes streaming with tears, and reached up shaking arms to him. Obi-Wan pulled him off the couch with a grunt and into his lap. The pain was gone, but he felt a bone deep exhaustion that wouldn’t let him go, for all that he had no physical connection to his body right now. He pressed a kiss to those soft curls and rocked them a little while Anakin let out breathless sobs into his chest. He made himself comfortable on the floor, knowing they’d be here a while.

 

Anakin took a long time to get under control, and Obi-Wan suspects that this upset has been a long time in coming, but he doesn’t begrudge his padawan the need to just… break down… No Jedi could truly go a whole life without tears, no matter how strong they are. Anakin had always held his emotions close to his chest. It’s what destroyed him in the end.

 

Well… frag that. Anakin was a lost little boy who’d spent the past fifteen years being manipulated by the worst Sith lord their generation had known. Sometimes you just needed… to cry…

 

He leaned in, pressing his lips to Anakin’s curls, gently rocking the two of them in a gentle swaying motion while he did, humming under his breath. 

 

Anakin seemed to calm a little when he started to hum, but it was another few minutes before he stopped crying. He sagged against Obi-Wan’s chest, feeling utterly spent there. “What song is that?”

 

He can’t remember the lyrics to the songs that soothed him as a child, he only remembers the ones that Qui-Gon used to hum into his hair like this when he was a young teen and sick with the flu, or laid up in the healing halls with a broken leg and anxiety.

 

“I don’t remember. Qui-Gon would… do this… when I was younger.”

 

Anakin lifted his head enough that he could stare at Obi-Wan with a confused look. “You used to do this to me too.”

 

Obi-Wan looked just as confused. “I did?” He didn’t remember that.

 

Anakin hummed a little, sagging back against his chest with the pad of his thumb between his teeth, gnawing on the strong skin there, a habit Obi-Wan had never fully gotten him out of, though when he was an adult, he’d only do it while half asleep. “When I went to bed with you, when you started falling asleep… you’d hum and hug me… I always felt so safe.”

 

Obi-Wan was fighting tears of his own now. During the clone wars, their time together was rare, and rarely did they spend it sleeping in the same bed, and if they did, it was even more rare that they were comfortable and safe. Obi-Wan was more likely to bunk with Cody when room was low, Anakin choosing to sleep next to Ahsoka when it came down to it.

 

Cody had been an amazing friend, but he wasn’t exactly the type you cuddle close and sing songs to to help him sleep.

 

For a moment, Obi-Wan wondered if Cody -or any of his clones- would have liked that. He remembers being told more than once, the clone’s preferred sleeping method tended towards being curled up in a big pile half the time.

 

He ran a gentle hand through Anakin’s soft hair, rocking him a little more while he thought about how much he missed them all. How much he wished went differently.

 

“Would you like that now?”

 

Anakin curled his fingers in Obi-Wan’s robes, still wrapped up in the blanket and a face red from where he’d been crying. “Like what?”

 

Obi-Wan leaned in and pressed a kiss to those sweet flushed cheeks. Oh god, he was  _ really _ young right now. He still had so much baby fat in his face. “Sleep. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

 

Anakin made a high whining noise -something that only pre-pubescent boys could usually do- and clung tighter to Obi-Wan’s clothes. “No, I want to stay with you, please!”

 

Obi-Wan’s breath caught for a few seconds as he cooed, going back to rocking the boy until he was calm again. “I know that dearheart, I know, you want to stay with me that’s okay. I understand. We’ll go sleep in my big bed, okay?”

 

He stood up with the young boy in his arms, thankful for a young body that was strong and healthy. Anakin let out a little squeak and clung to him, before calming down as they moved to the bedroom. He was set down on the bed before Obi-Wan started taking off his robes, moving in the same bedtime routine he’s been doing at the temple all his life, like he’d just been away for a bit and was home again.

 

When he slid under the covers with sleep pants and a tunic on, Anakin was already tucked up under them, buried under several blankets and making grabby hands at his master, desperate to have him close again. Obi-Wan let the boy pull him in, tucking him back under his chin as he went back to rubbing his back and humming.

 

“...where did you go?”

 

Obi-Wan looked a little embarrassed at that. “I… Qui-Gon came back and found me. He said my soul had left and he’d pulled me back in. He’s been gone for a few days, I hadn’t had the chance to tell him about you.”

 

Anakin nodded slowly. “Oh.”

 

Obi-Wan pulled him closer again, eyes slipping shut already.

 

“Just… come back when you have to leave, okay? Come back for me.”

 

“Dearheart, I could never just leave you.”

 

“Promise?”

 

“I promise. There is nowhere I’d rather be than with you in my arms.”

 

“What about with Master Qui-Gon?”

 

Obi-Wan did smile a little at that, leaning in to press more kisses to Anakin’s hair. “Qui-Gon in the day, and Anakin all night. Pretty great life.”

 

He could feel the boy smiling against his neck as he slipped back off into darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> DO NOT BLAME QUI-GON FOR THAT INCIDENT OKAY IF THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE STARTED FLATLINING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU YOU'D TRY YOUR HAND AT CPR TOO OKAY THAT WASN'T HIS FAULT
> 
> gatersgonewild.tumblr.com


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